Alabama Basketball's Nate Oats Offers Update on Jordan Bruner

The grad-student forward suffered a torn meniscus on Jan. 12 at Kentucky

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama men's basketball coach Nate Oats gave a status update on grad-student forward Jordan Bruner on Friday morning.

Bruner has been on the sidelines since suffering a torn meniscus at Kentucky back on Jan. 12. The tear required surgery, and Bruner was initially diagnosed to be out for four to six weeks.

According to Oats, Bruner is recovering but still has a bit to go.

"I've talked to him every day," Oats said. "He's been on the treadmill getting some walking in. He's actually able to get some shots up. Yesterday he was shooting after practice a little bit — I mean, not anything game-speed or anything like that — but he looks good. He was riding a bike during practice today. He's right there during practice, right off to the side doing his treatment and everything."

At 6-foot-10, Bruner was the tallest player on the Crimson Tide's active roster. Freshman forward Alex Tchikou measures in at 6-11, but has been out for the season due to an Achilles injury suffered during preseason practice.

Bruner's height and length is something that this Alabama team needs to have on the court during its late-season push. While the Crimson Tide's defense hasn't had many struggles as of late, missing a key big man up front during the second half of the season is something that this Alabama squad would rather not have to worry about.

Oats said that Bruner's timeline to returning to action has remained unchanged, but he hopes that he can come back sooner rather than later.

"They haven't given me any kind of different timeframe," Oats said. "Shoot, the four to six [weeks] they gave me initially I'm hoping it's closer to four than it is to six because we could certainly use him back here soon."